Waimoa is spoken by about 27,000 people in the northeast of East Timor. It is uncertain whether it is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian language with a large amount of Papuan vocabulary, or a Papuan language related to Makasae with Malayo-Polynesian influences. In particular, Waimoa is spoken in the Baucau Municipality of East Timor between Vemasse and Bucoli and in and around the city of Baucau.
Waimoa is also known was Waimaha, Uai Ma'a, Uaimo'a or Uaimua, and the people who speak it call their language Waima'a, which comes from wai (water) and ma'a (empty), perhaps because Waimoa speakers life in the driest part of East Timor. There are two dialects of Waimoa: Coastal Waimoa and Mountain Waimoa. It is closely related to Kairui and Midiki, which are spoken in nearby parts of East Timor.
Traditionally Waimoa was not written. However, recently ways to write it with the Latin alphabet have been proposed.
Download an alphabet chart for Waimoa (Excel)
'Uaina raninai hibito'i ha atana Aruru mai hatina Barai ohi temiaho. Ekia miaho aonai hau ha atana Beraura abomo emiaho. Ia hana hauaniani pokina taba ikoinai eani. Hauaniani weiana nahuna uahona namona 'akina ohi hana wa'a 'uniai temiaho. Ekia miaho aonai hana eapana. Mahi bo'ona 'aki eahunakia nahuna etatu eani.
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Aruru, with his brother Barai. At that time, there was a man named Beraura. He is a man eater because he has eaten everything. The eater stayed in highland with his child, a very nice girl. Had stayed, he we nt hunting. He has hunted a lot of meat and the child cooked them and ate.
Source: Waima Organised Phonology Data
Information about Waimoa | Numbers
Information about Waimoa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waimoa_language
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waimaha_(Sprache)
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/waim1252
https://dobes.mpi.nl/projects/waimaa/language/the-sounds-of-waimaa/
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/rro
Amarasi, Dawan, Galoli, Helong, Luang, Tetum, Tii, Waimoa, Western Rote
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 09.07.26. Last modified: 10.07.26
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